We are not born free, nor do we come into this world with a self-identity and autonomy of our own. We achieve those things, through the conflict and cooperation that weave us into the social fabric.

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they are."
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Freedom is the possibility of isolation. You are free if you can withdraw from people, not having to seek them out for the sake of money, company, love, glory or curiosity, none of which can thrive in silence and solitude. If you can't live alone, you were born a slave. You may have all the splendours of the mind and the soul, in which case you're a noble slave, or an intelligent servant, but you're not free. And you can't hold this up as your own tragedy, for your birth is a tragedy of Fate alone. Hapless you are, however, if life itself so oppresses you that you're forced to become a slave. Hapless you are if, having been born free, with the capacity to be isolated and self-sufficient, poverty should force you to live with others.

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Here's one who thinks he is the master of others, yet he is more enslaved than they are.

a child is born free

MAN is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they.

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others, but remains more of a slave than they are.

Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.

Man is created free, and is free,
Though he be born in chains.

What is it to be free of King George and continue to be the slaves of King Prejudice? What is it to be born free and not to live free?

The bondage we are born into is the bondage we cannot see. Verily, freedom is little more than the ignorance of tyranny. Live long enough, and you will see: Men resent not the whip so much as the hand that wields it.

Freedom is the possibility of isolation... If you can't live alone, you were born a slave.

What would it be like if I were free, not enslaved by my conditioning?

You are either free or not free